Country Profile Bangladesh
of internal migration in Bangladesh, whilst large-scale in- tors that contribute to migration decisions are simply not
ternational movements of Bangladeshis are not to be ex- considered. It also denies people their capacity to cope
pected for this reason. with shocks to their livelihoods and to adapt to environ-
Mobility can serve as a temporary post-disaster cop- mental changes and other structural transformations. And
ing strategy. The floods of 1987, for example, led to the lastly, compared to the 500,000 labor migrants who have
temporary displacement of 45 million people in Bangla- left (and mostly returned to) Bangladesh each year in the
desh. Yet, a high susceptibility to natural hazards does past decade in order to work abroad and who sent home
not necessarily lead to an increase in permanent migra- remittances, a number of 250,000 people who move within
tion. Most survivors of heavy tropical cyclones are also the nation and settle in cities and do seasonal labor in
only temporarily displaced and return quickly. Often also other parts of the country does not seem to pose a too
only men move to nearby cities to work, whilst their fami- big of a problem for the Bangladeshi people. In contrast,
lies stay back home and rely on the migrants’ supporting increasing internal mobility and translocal lives might pave
transfers. Social networks and, in particular, good translo- the way for future developments and enhanced resilience
cal relations have proved to be crucial in a post-disaster against natural disasters.
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situation. Disasters can, however, also reduce mobility
by increasing the labor needs at places of origin or by re-
moving the resources necessary to migrate. Many families
living under conditions of extreme poverty may experience
significant barriers to migration: They have neither adult
male family members who could work as labor migrants,
the required resources to facilitate migration, nor access
to the necessary migration networks. These “trapped pop-
ulations”, among them many elderly and many female-
headed households, are often the people who are most ____________________
severely affected by a disaster, because they are forced
to live with the resources that are locally available to them. Notes
They largely depend on post-disaster aid, mutual help and
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solidarity within the community. Their immobility is an ad- According to the data provided by the Bangladesh Gar-
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ditional source of their vulnerability. ment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, [Link]
Besides natural hazards that my “hit” a particular area [Link]/chart/total_product_export#.VY0ackY71LE
suddenly and often unexpectedly, there are also more (accessed: 5-21-2015).
2
subtle environmental changes that force people to (tem- All data for 2013; UNDP (2014) and FAO (2015).
3
porarily) leave their place of residence. River bank erosion Source of population data: UN (2015).
4
and coastal erosion due to sea level rise are two examples Source of employment market data: BBS (2011).
5
of such slow-onset processes. Since 1973, over 158,780 Source of international migration data: UN (2013).
6
hectares of land have been eroded by Bangladesh’s major See van Schendel (2009) for a detailed account of Bangladesh’s
rivers. More than 16,000 people living on the banks of the history and the role that migration plays in it.
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Ganges and Brahmaputra have allegedly been displaced van Schendel (2009); Zeitlyn (2012).
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in 2010 alone. Besides economic and political factors, ris- Abel/Sandner (2014), additional online dataset based on UN
ing sea levels, coastal erosion and soil salinization will (2013).
9
contribute to the displacement of people from the coast- BBS (2012), p. 19, p. 322.
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line and the densely populated delta region. Siddiqui (2005); Afsar (2009); Rahman (2012).
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The 2011 census revealed that the population already Abel/Sandner (2014); Siddiqui et al. (2015)
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decreases in those rural regions that are most severely In the so called kafala system, a migrant is sponsored by a GCC
33
affected by floods, cyclones and riverbank erosion. For citizen who takes on full economic and legal responsibility for the
Bangladesh, estimates are that 26 million people would foreign employee during the contract period. Changes in labor
be affected and displaced by storm surges and sea level contracts relate directly to changes in immigration status. Migrant
rise by the year 2050. Annually, 250,000 people might be workers cannot simply leave one job and take on another as they
displaced as a consequence of climate-induced hazards are “tied” to their sponsor. The kafala system sets the structural
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under a moderate climate change scenario. Yet, such es- foundation for the exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf (Af-
timates have to be treated with caution because the exact sar 2009, Siddiqui 2005, Rahman 2012, Winckler 2012 [http://
reasons why people are displaced – or do they migrate [Link]/gesellschaft/migration/laenderprofile/150973/gulf-
voluntarily? – are often not considered adequately. Also, states]).
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the underlying assumptions are quite simplistic. People See Siddiqui (2005), Afsar (2009), and Rahman (2012) for Ban-
are displaced by nature for good: they leave once and for gladeshi labor migration to the Gulf. See also Danneker (2005)
all, they do not come back, they do not move forward. Mi- and Rudnick (2009) for an analysis of labor migration of Ban-
gration is thereby portrayed as a singular and linear pro- gladeshi women to Malaysia, and Baey/Yeoh (2015) for Bangla-
cess. This is not only environmentally deterministic as all deshi migrant workers in Singapore’s construction industry.
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other social, cultural, economic, political and spatial fac- Zeitlyn (2012); ILO (2014c).
page 11